2026 Future of Energy Summit: Ari Boosalis on Nuclear’s Comeback

AI data centers demand near-perfect uptime, factories are coming back online, and the grid is being asked to do more than it was built for. That’s why we invited Ari Boosalis, Senior Advisor in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Nuclear Energy, to walk us through the real reasons nuclear power is re-entering America’s long-term energy strategy and economic plan.

We get specific about what “reliable” means when a data center can only afford minutes of downtime per year, and why nuclear’s baseload generation and long refueling cycles change the conversation around grid reliability. Ari also shares what he’s watching in advanced reactors, small modular reactors (SMRs), and microreactors, including how demonstrations at national labs help prove new designs and open the door to deployment for remote communities, industrial sites, and national security missions.

Then we zoom out to energy security and national security. Exporting US nuclear technology can create relationships that last generations through fuel services, maintenance, and regulatory collaboration, strengthening alliances while supporting American manufacturing and jobs. We close with the big picture: the ambition to grow from roughly 100 gigawatts to 400 gigawatts, what that implies for the nuclear fuel supply chain, and the market signals investors should track next, especially offtake and utility order books.

If you care about nuclear energy, advanced reactors, SMRs, energy security, and powering the AI economy, subscribe, share this conversation, and leave a review with your biggest question about where nuclear goes next.

Transcript

Welcome And Why Nuclear Returns

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Welcome to Idea Gen TV. Today, thrilled to have with me Ari Bosales, Senior Advisor in the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy. Welcome, Ari. Thank you for having me. It's so great to have you here. Ari, in your role, you help to advance policies and initiatives supporting America's nuclear energy sector, including next generation reactor technologies, energy security, and long-term grid reliability. Ari, you bring a valuable perspective on the role nuclear energy plays in meeting the nation's future energy needs. And I couldn't be more thrilled to have you here, as I mentioned. Launching right into the interview, nuclear energy has emerged, really re-emerged, as a central part of the national energy conversation, right? From the Department of Energy's perspective, why is nuclear power increasingly viewed as critical, vital to America's long-term energy and economic strategy?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

You know, I would say over the last 10 years, Congress has played an instrumental role passing legislation from NEMA and ICA all the way to the Advanced Act. And we've really seen this transformation and support on the ground level, and with the president being very energetic and supportive of nuclear for nuclear EOs doing various different things. It's having the right people and the right policy, I think, is what changed. And for us, we've sort of entered this new era of nuclear where companies are entering the fray every day, coming to the Department of Energy. Um, we interact with industry all the time, and there's huge excitement, and that wouldn't be possible without this moment, and also new capital is coming in, at least on the venture and private equity side, which is opening up more opportunities for more technologies to become commercialized. And so as we go through this next uh era, hopefully, of the new nuclear renaissance, which will re-emerge, which failed sadly in the 2000s, hopefully this moment will be matched with actual boots in the ground, shovels in the ground, and power onto the grid. So it's a really great, important time, but it wouldn't be possible without Congress's groundwork, but with the president's leadership.

SPEAKER_00 2:30

Certainly, the president's been leading on this issue. Um, you know, energy is is top of mind. Uh you know, he's created the National Energy Dominance Council.

AI Data Centers Need Baseload Power

SPEAKER_00 2:40

And so Jared Egan over there and Brittany Kelm are doing a great job, as is your boss, uh, Mr. Wright. And uh, you know, there's a lot happening in the sector, so exciting to say the least. The U.S. is seeing rapid uh growing electricity demand that we see because of all the aforementioned AI data centers, advanced manufacturing, and electrification. How important, this is a like for folks like me that are tangentially sort of understanding what's happening, how important is nuclear energy uh now? And how much more important it will be in meeting the demand while maintaining the reliability of our you know complex, to say the least, grid?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Yeah, I think you know, with these new technologies coming online now and for the next foreseeable future, nuclear presents base load generation, which is unmatched compared to other energy sources. It's nearly 24-7 power, uh, 18-month refueling cycles, and even longer when we look at some of these more advanced technologies. And when you look at an AI data center, which has about five minutes per year of downtime, you really need something that's gonna be reliable, resilient, is able to provide possibly gigawatt scale electricity. And so nuclear is able to be able to really fill the gap. And then when you look at you know, the previous speaker talking about um you know plastics, nuclear can also provide energy and heat to fuel those systems and make sure that plastic actually produces. And we're seeing that with a demonstration down in Seedrift, Texas. And so I think nuclear is sort of meets the moment for new demand, and we haven't really seen that in the last 20 years. And so as we continue to see

Advanced Reactors And Launchpad Progress

SPEAKER_01 4:25

more manufacturing on the United States come back to the United States, we're really going to be able to meet that moment, provide the power uh from the grid to the factories and to people's homes.

SPEAKER_00 4:35

I love it. I love it. So the Department of Energy has emphasized advanced reactors and next generation nuclear technology. Ari, what technologies are you most excited about relating directly to the small modular reactors and advanced reactors space over the next several years?

SPEAKER_01 4:57

I'm more excited just to see them be built. You know, last week we saw a new reactor go online at Idaho National Laboratory. Uh, that was part of our originally part of our reactor pilot program and now part of Launchpad. And it was really great to see American innovation at its finest. You know, that company completed within nine months. You know, we're on track to have three new reactors hit criticality, as the president uh uh challenged us in those executive orders, and to see that innovation at that timescale and while promoting safety and ingenuity, we're able to meet the moment. And so when you're looking at the small reactors like micro reactors, which can help with um national security missions, um, they can help with remote communities in like Alaska, to these SMRs, which could provide heat or electricity or provide a little bit more power in an area that's not as large as a large city, but can really be reliable. So I think you know, all these technologies

Energy Security And Nuclear Diplomacy

SPEAKER_01 5:51

have different roles in different places, and just to see them be built is really exciting.

SPEAKER_00 5:55

It is really exciting, and and so that is the beginning of the future, as I would like to say. The conversation around energy security increasingly overlaps with national security. How should policymakers, not far from where we're sitting in Washington, DC, from the White House to the Congress, think about nuclear energy's role in strengthening American competitiveness and reducing strategic vulnerabilities?

SPEAKER_01 6:28

Yeah, I would say that you know, over the last few months, you know, there has been energy markets have had some turbulence. Um, but you know, we've been able, as the United States, to produce a lot of natural gas and export to our allies, providing and filling that gap. You know, our we are able to have this really American really incredible American technologies that are able to export to our allies in Europe. And that sort of fills the gap now. What nuclear can do in the future is fill that gap long term. When we build a reactor, let's say in a country like Poland, which we want to build AP 1000s, uh, we're not just starting at that point or ending our relationship when we build the reactor on site. It actually will continue as the reactor is there for possibly a hundred years. So that is from fuel fabrication services to helping with their regulatory environment to supporting their servicing their reactors. And so our relationships and ability to use nuclear as a way to strengthen our relationships with

Why Countries Want US Nuclear

SPEAKER_01 7:24

our allies across the world and build new ones is foundational because as I said, when it sits there, it's going to be there for a while. And so our ability to maintain those relationships will ever be stronger and never be tied to those countries.

SPEAKER_00 7:35

And so just to follow up to that, so what is the uh reception of communities across the world for nuclear? I mean, you mentioned um new reactors coming on board. There's three, we've got many nuclear reactors, we have this massive need for energy in general, seeing it you know across the board with AI, et cetera. What is what has been the public reaction that you're seeing tangentially through your role?

SPEAKER_01 8:02

Yeah, so like in our office, we have an international component as well as the department wide, and our goal is to develop these energy technologies, to deploy them here and abroad. And so a lot of these countries are coming to us and wanting to sign international government agreements because they see US technology as superior, and we provide that certainty, that security. They want to partner with the United States. And so being able to demonstrate our technologies here at Idaho National Laboratory and across the United States through our various programs, we're able then to show these countries that our technology is superior, but also we're able to help them develop the regulatory regime across the world. And so when they're seeing, you know, they're developing these uh the regime of how they do regulations, they sort of learn about US technologies and so they get really comfortable with them. And so they're more likely to develop and pay into our system and export

Safety Innovation And Public Perception

SPEAKER_01 8:53

our technology into their country, which allows us to have more jobs and more manufacturing, which benefits the United States.

SPEAKER_00 8:58

All about benefiting the United States, right? As we're leading into America 250. Yep, right. The public perception, which I alluded to around nuclear, has evolved so much. Do you believe that the what you know what is driving this shift, particularly among younger policymakers and technology leaders, is related to the safety, the innovation, all the things you just alluded to?

SPEAKER_01 9:23

Yeah, I think it's I think it's all the above, right? You know, nuclear technology, especially the advanced reactors, have passive benefits. They have higher efficiency, they have more mobility. Um, when you think about having an economy that is able to provide baseload power and be really reliable when you have storms around the country, it's able to cut through that and be able to still produce new electrons onto the grid. And it's able to provide that base load power that we all need in order to live, right? Energy is everything in this world. Without it, we have nothing.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

And so a follow-up to that is the many, the smaller nuclear reactors, does that inherently limit risk and therefore allow for more uh broad-based adoption?

SPEAKER_01 10:09

Yeah, I think the goal with SMRs is to create that manufacturing uh capability where you're able to produce these reactors in a small enough that you're able to manufacture a lower cost. The large reactors are really great at producing baseload power, but it's very hard to uh commoditize them in a way that you could say, I go to this factory, I'm gonna build five different parts and bring them onto one site and then put them together

SMR Economics And 2050 Growth Target

SPEAKER_01 10:32

at cheaper and lower costs. And so I think the goal with SMRs is to be able to produce uh that cost at a lower kilowatt per hour. But I say we're still in the process and getting to that uh end goal.

SPEAKER_00 10:43

So we're looking out 20 years, uh 20 years into the future. What role do you see nuclear playing alongside all of the other renewables like gas and you know other types of uh energy?

SPEAKER_01 10:57

Well, the president gave us a goal. Yeah, by 2050 uh or 2040, we'd hit 400 gigawatts. So that's a four, four like a four, like 400% increase from 100 gigawatts to 400. So we would see if that were to occur, which I think there's a road to that path, we would have to see large manufacturing, uh, you know, incredible increase in uh the fuel supply from the United States and of enrichment, conversion, mining, and milling. Um but that that would mean that nuclear would be one of the premier uh you know electrical generating, and also probably in other applications, as we talked before, of industrial desalination. So if that were to occur, which I think we have a path towards, the United States would be more energy independent, we'd be supporting our allies, and we'd probably have a

What Investors Should Watch Next

SPEAKER_01 11:40

stronger future. And so how many mini reactors would that be? Uh don't don't ask me that. I'll leave it up to the utilities and the end users. Okay. I'll determine that.

SPEAKER_00 11:49

Fair, fair. And so for businesses, manufacturers, and investors, important, so that the government doesn't have to fund all of this. Watching this space closely, what specific signals should they pay attention to that indicate where US nuclear policy and investment priorities are heading over the next three to five years?

SPEAKER_01 12:18

Yeah, I would say when we start with how Congress has been uh you know very supportive of NECA and NEMA, like 2017, 2018, to all the way to the Advanced Act, Energy Act of 2020, and now, you know, the president was able to jumpstart this industry. Congress laid that groundwork, but the president's, you know, four ambitious EOs, we've seen the swell of venture capital and private equity come into the space. Um, and that's been a huge signal for industry and opportunities to develop. But I think the one thing we're still missing is the end user uh offtake opportunities, and we need capital at that higher level to come in and start investing in these technologies when they're deploying them after demonstration. So I think we're getting to a place on a signal level, but once you see utilities uh and order

Final Takeaways And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_01 13:05

books being produced and seeing that robust uh supply chain being built out, then I think there's a lot of opportunity for the space to grow and hopefully uh the sky's the limit.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

You know, I think that's where we're gonna stop because sky's the limit. Thanks for all you're doing. Thank you. God bless America. Thank you. All right,